“The eyes of my mother” – Movie review

Out of all the movies that came to my mind while I was thinking on which movie to start off with “The eyes of my mother” seemed like the perfect one to review first. I never heard of Nicolas Pesce before, so I did not know what I was in for but the trailer fascinated me so I knew that I had to watch it.

Some people do not like categorizing this movie as a horror movie and even though I understand where they come from, I highly disagree. It’s not a typical horror movie for sure, but it’s a film that will follow you and that stays with you long after you watch it. It is a very disturbing movie, but not in the way that you would think. The entire movie is shot in black and white which only adds to the beauty of it. The director uses black and white to try and “reinvigorate” the visual beauty of old movies and to show that black and white can be just as interesting as color (if not more). And it works. The way that it is filmed adds to the story and makes it much more dramatic and gives it an eerie feeling.

As simplistic as the plot is, it really does not take away of the beauty of the film. It starts off with a younger version of Francesca (played by Olivia Bond) who lives on a secluded farmhouse with her surgeon mother and her father. Even as a young seemingly innocent child you can tell that she is no normal child. Something dark and unsettling lingers in her eyes. At this young age Francesca is forced to witness a deeply traumatic event which seems to awaken that darkness from deep inside her.

Fast forward a few years later as a young woman we follow her as she tries to cope with loneliness while falling deeper into the darkness (played by Kika Magalhaes ). She is a dark, brutal character who’s actions make you terrified of her but in a weird way watching her try to socialize and live a normal life brings out some sort of an innocence in her that makes you feel sympathy for her and Kika Magalhaes manages to bring out both of those sides of her beautifully.

The bottom line is that it’s a movie that you will either love very much or a movie that you will hate. It is a very hard film to digest after all. For me, I was hooked from the first scene. The eerie, hypnotic cinematography combined with the beautiful soundtrack make it a very enjoyable viewing.

That being said, hopefully I managed peak your interest without revealing too much of the movie and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the movie. If you are a fan of unique and different movies you will definitely enjoy this. This was Nicolas Pesce’s directorial debut and for his first film he did an excellent job and I will definitelybe looking forward to his future projects.